Android TV: Good Luck Finding The Nexus Player - Part 2

In Android TV land, the Nexus Player is quickly becoming an increasingly difficult device to find. At least from all the major retailers. Back in December, we did cover this point in our part 1 of Have You Tried Buying The Nexus Player Recently and highlighted just how difficult it has become to go out and simply buy what is essentially Google's flagship Android TV device. Of all the stores we checked, Best Buy was the only store which still offered the Nexus Player as an 'in stock' item. Keeping in mind, that this was during December and when you would expect retailers to be well stocked in the run up to Christmas. As such, it was felt that the lack of stock did represent another nail in the coffin of the Nexus Player and further confirming that this is a product that is nearing its end of life.

To briefly update on the general status of the Nexus Player. It does still remain out of stock pretty much everywhere other than Best Buy. Right now, Newegg does seem to have some in stock, although, they are priced quite high and are 'open box' items. But here is the really interesting thing with Best Buy. Back in December we were so fixated on just finding stock through the major retailers, that we never looked further into what the stock levels mean. Since then and following the price trend on Best Buy, the Nexus Player has fluctuated quite dramatically, with the price changing from $49.99, to $79.99 and even at full retail with $99.99. What is even more alarming is that while you can order the Nexus Player online through Best Buy, it seems they are not allowing you to buy and collect from stores anymore. The option is there on the listing, however when we tried to find a store nearby in San Diego to pick up from, there seemed to be no stores within 250 miles with any stock.

And this was not just San Diego, as searching for San Francisco will bring up the same results.

...and LA

...And even further afield like Arizona, Idaho, New Jersey and New York.

In fact, pretty much everywhere we checked it was the same result. According to the Best Buy website, there are no Best Buy units in stock pretty much anyway. Just to double check, after calling the local Best Buy, they also did confirm that not only they do not have any stock, but none of the stores anywhere near has any Nexus Players on-hand either. Whether this is the case for everywhere does remain to be seen, although the Nexus Player is certainly starting to look as though it has now become an online only purchase.

John has been writing about and reviewing tech products since 2014 after making the transition from writing about and reviewing airlines. With a background in Psychology, John has a particular interest in the science and future of the industry. Besides adopting the Managing Editor role at AH John also covers much of the news surrounding audio and visual tech, including cord-cutting, the state of Pay-TV, and Android TV. Contact him at [email protected]